Future of fashion

Luxury gowns and bespoke suits have long relied on manual techniques that seamstresses and tailors have taken decades to master. In the world of couture, it is typical to hear that dozens of hours were spent handcrafting a single sleeve or beading part of a skirt. However, technology has always been inherent to fashion, mirroring its fast-paced, ever-evolving nature, and its openness to innovative new design concepts.

In the same way that the sewing machine revolutionised the rate and way in which garments were produced, new technologies are restructuring the landscape of today's fashion.

High-end fashion houses have adopted the term "fashion technology" in a futuristic-inspired manner, rather than abandoning their sewing kits. At Paris Fashion Week, designer Hussein Chalayan showcased his idea of hi-tech fashion with futuristic 2-in-1 transforming dresses that did not get their wow factor from advanced machines, but from a lot of mathematics and clever designs.

Designers now have access to resources such as computer-aided design (CAD), augmented reality sizing, smart fabrics that capture human data, and garments produced from three-dimensional printers. But can this world of futuristic fashion coexist with the traditional sketch and sew designs, or is the art of needle and thread on the road to becoming an archaic craft?

The landscape of fashion technology is vast, even in its infancy today. Temperature-regulating technology, such as Coolmax and Uniqlo's patented Heattech, helps the body maintain optimal comfort. Technology-infused fabrics resist liquids, stains and wrinkles, and can even change colour and appearance.

Nanotechnology-based smart fabrics are being developed to act as second skin - by capturing data for adapting to the environment and by creating self-contained energy systems based on body heat and movements and temperature fluctuations.

Norah Alberto, fashion director at Maidenform, says the lingerie giant is using "new fabrics, treated with innovative water brush technology for a luxuriously plush feel, that create unparalleled support, control and comfort for women". The brand's latest collection, "Comfort Devotion", has been strategically designed to maximise comfort and offer women multiple wardrobe solutions.

On the virtual side, there has been an influx of apps that can help streamline the sampling, ordering and production process of a piece of clothing. Sizing technologies, such as Me-Ality and TryLive, use body scanners and augmented reality to measure hundreds of points to find clothes that best fit your body. "Technology opens up the realm of infinite possibility in design. Rising to the challenge of using new technology to push creativity forward is the ultimate opportunity for designers," says Jessica Lapidos, designer of New York label TillyandWilliam. "We are constantly reaching out to scientists and innovators for [new] developments."